The feature is expected to fall under Legendary Pictures’ Asian division, Legendary East, although Legendary declined to comment. Sources also say this movie is the first of many that Legendary is expected to make as the company renews its focus on China.

Great Wall’s script will be getting a rewrite, although the basic concept will remain: the mystery and secret origin of why the Great Wall was built.

The previous iteration, which had Ed Zwick on board to direct, had a supernatural bent and was going to star Henry Cavill and Benjamin Walker as British soldiers traveling through 15th century China who witness the construction of the massive edifice that will one day be known as the Great Wall. They soon discover that its intended purpose is not to keep out human beings, but terrifying creatures.

Zhang’s body of work ranges from dramas Raise the Red Lantern to martial arts epics such as Hero and House of Flying Daggers. He is an icon in his home country and also directed the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

In February he came on board to direct The Parsifal Mosaic, Universal's adaptation of the 1982 Robert Ludlum novel.